Topic: Oscars 2010

Of the categories I picked, I answered 13 out of 21 correct, including all the major categories. Let me know how you all did this year!! Watching this years Academy Award’s left me with an incredible sense of closure. The best movies won, the best actors won and there was nothing anyone could say about it. The biggest shock and triumph at the awards came in the battle between “The Hurt Locker” and “Avatar.” Expected to battle it out in many of the nights biggest category, “The Hurt Locker” made a clean sweep, capturing Best Director and Best Picture as well as technical categories in Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Best Original Screenplay. Many of those awards included nominations for “Avatar.” The high budget movie which now holds the all time box office record took home just three awards in Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects. Despite a [...] Continue...

Since the nominees were announced there has been discussion of the battle between David and Goliath. On one side, we have the huge budget, huge box office hit “Avatar.” Directed by James Cameron, “Avatar” was a technical achievement unlike any other. The other side of the coin is represented by “The Hurt Locker.” Starring Jeremy Renner and directed by Cameron’s former wife Katheryn Bigelow, this movie saw only limited release but was a perfect movie. What makes this race interesting is the concessions made. “Avatar” is flashy. The special effects, makeup, costumes and visual elements are second to none. It’s massive technical and directoral achievements are overshadowed by a complete lack of a story (or one that most people would care about). “Hurt Locker” on the other hand is straight acting. There are almost no effects and the movie rests on your relationship (as an audience) with the characters. In order for [...] Continue...

Without further discussion, here are my picks for the Academy Awards. I encourage you to list your picks in the comments section below!! Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker” Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz Actress in a Supporting Role: Mo’Nique Animated Feature Film: “UP” Art Direction: “Avatar” Continue...

This years award for Best Director at the Academy Awards will surely go to the most worthy director out there. There are five nominees and all of them deserve to win. Among the more interesting nominees are Kathryn Bigelow (“Hurt Locker“) and her former husband James Cameron (“Avatar“). Also nominated is Hollywood icon Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds“), Lee Daniels (“Precious“) and Jason Reitman (“Up In The Air“). This is one of the strongest fields this category has ever had. In a perfect world I would love the race to come down to Reitman and Tarantino. My gut is telling me that Cameron will win for the magical world he created in “Avatar.” The dark horse in the race is certainly Kathryn Bigelow. “Hurt Locker” is a fantastic movie. What no one knows is how much weight will be put on the director for that movie. Tarantino has never won an [...] Continue...

This will surely be the most underrated movie of the year. After being an early skeptic of the movie, I saw it on DVD after its run in theaters. Expecting a bloody, action packed, shoot em’ up movie, I was instead treated to an intelligent drama that made you question life. The movie really tears at human emotion and is able to cause genuine sadness over the treatment of aliens. Sharlto Copley gave an extremely underrated performance as Wikus Van De Merwe, a role he was not nominated for. Although he would not of won in that category, it would of been nice to see him honored with the nomination. Unfortunately, this movie will not receive any awards at the Oscars. The technical categories are sure to be swept by “Avatar” leaving “District 9″ without an award in 2010. Continue...

Clearly one of the best movies of the year, Quentin Tarantino put together an amazing look at Nazi Germany through the eyes of a mast of blood and gore. Brad Pitt lead an amazing cast into battle and the movie has earned a number of nominations at the Academy Awards. This movie was nominated in the Best Picture category. Unfortunately this is a movie that only received the nod because of the expanded nominations (from 5 in the past to 10 this year). Despite a sure loss in the Best Picture category, there is one nomination for which the movie should take home an award. Christopher Waltz is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work as Colonel Hans Landa. This is without a doubt one of the best performances of the year. Waltz’s incredible flow between English, French and German gave this performance a dynamic never before seen in a Tarantino movie. Anyone other than [...] Continue...

Over the next week, The Truth About Music will be breaking down some of the hottest races in the race for the Oscars. There are a number of great races to break down and I thought that a great place to start would be with some of the nominees for Best Picture. “Precious” tells the story of an obese, abused, raped and illiterate 16-year-old girl growing up in New York City. Despite having an extremely depressing story line, the parts are extremely well acted by the stellar cast. This movie is nominated in a number of categories including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Director Lee Daniels is also up for Best Director and Geoffrey S. Fletcher for Best Adapted Screen Play. Despite being up for a number of awards, I think that the movie will play the role of dark horse in a number of the categories. Despite putting [...] Continue...